Cafe Society is one of the most beautifully shot movies this decade

Vittorio Storaro's photography in The Conformist is known as possibly the greatest ever. For good reason might I add. However, the last 15-20 years haven't been kind to Storaro, he's pretty much decided to stay out of the spotlight or just been forgotten because the films he's been photographing have been mostly foreign and with no cultural impact whatsoever. His last Hollywood film was 1998's Bullworth. That's fine, I don't really agree with promoting your art via mainstream fare when there is so much more freedom on the other side of the spectrum, but Muhammad, Kingdom Come, Dare to Love Me and The Trick in the Sheet? Those are the last few films he's worked on. I've never heard of them and that's saying a lot because I hear about most titles, even foreign.

Well I'm here to say that Storaro's talents have been put to good use by Woody Allen in his latest film Cafe Society. The candy-colored shots that infuse almost every frame of Allen's 1930's Hollywood romance are deliciously rendered by Storaro's Lens'. The film opens in July, but I caught a sneak peek at Cannes and, although very slight, it's a lovely film and I look forward to seeing it again stateside.